Emirates Cancels Airbus A350 Order

Emirates Airline has cancelled an order for 70 AirbusA350s, Airbus confirmed on Wednesday. “The decision follows ongoing discussions with the airline in light of their fleet requirement review, as demonstrated by their order for 50 additional A380s”, the company stated.

Emirates placed its order for 50 A350-900s and 20 -1000s in 2007. The first delivery slot was scheduled for 2019. The airline has been publicly voicing its unhappiness with the performance of the -1000 version even after Airbus decided to delay the entry into service of the type by almost two years to allow Rolls-Royce more time for a significant engine upgrade. Emirates Airline President Tim Clark therefore left open whether he was going to take the aircraft. However, his public criticism never included the -900.

In November 2012, Clark told Aviation Week the airline's A350-1000 was in limbo, and the A350-900 “is starting to look a bit marginal to us because of size,” he said. “Gauge is the way we grow, you cannot get any more aircraft into the Dubai hub.”

“It is not the world’s greatest news,” Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers John Leahy said on Wednesday. “Tim does change his mind from time to time.” Leahy stated there was no impact financially given that first deliveries were only planned for 2019 and spanned out to 2034. “There is certainly no hole in production, I’m not particularly worried at all.” Leahy pointed out that he has already received expressions of interest from other A350 customers who would like to pick up production slots now freed up as a result of the Emirates decision.

The cancellation is not so much a problem in terms of order numbers – Airbus still holds 742 commitments for the aircraft – but it does raise the question whether other airlines are as unsatisfied with the -1000. Other Gulf carriers have also placed large orders for the -1000 variant –- Qatar Airways has bought 37 and Etihad 22 of the type.

The Emirates cancellation does leave a significant dent in the -1000 backlog which has now shrunk from 189 to 169 aircraft. Cancellations are no new experience for Airbus as far as the A350 is concerned. The backlog of the smallest version, the A350-800, is now down to 34 aircraft from a high of around 200. Airbus officially plans to delay that aircraft to revamp it, but industry insiders claim it actually would like to cancel it.

Since the A350 order, Emirates has been increasingly focused on even larger aircraft. It placed an order for 150 Boeing777Xs and 50 more A380s. While the expansion of the new Dubai World Central Airport has been accelerated, the airline still faces significant capacity constraints for a number of years which would typically lead it to increase average aircraft size for maximum passenger throughput. Emirates stated that “the contract which we signed in 2007 for 70 A350 aircraft has lapsed. We are reviewing our fleet requirements.”

Discuss this Article 15

I would imagine most everyone saw this coming in the wake of the massive 777X order placed at the Dubai air show. This, perhaps, explains why Airbus is particularly aggrieved where Boeing 'subsidies' from Washington state are concerned.

The timing of this is interesting. I read this morning that Boeing has been in talks with Emirates concerning the 747-8i. This, of course, does not mean Emirates will buy the 747-8 but supposedly they are talking.

Is it just coincidence that about a week ago Boeing was talking to EK about the 747-8I and today the A350 cancellation?
I might be reading something into this but as long as the odds might be, there could be an order for the 747-8I by EK.
Not every route can support the A380, so the 747-8I might find a niche at EK and some other M.E. carriers.
As I said, just my thoughts on the two news items in the past week.

Not too surprising since Emirates is already a good 777 customer and the A350 would double up with it, especially the -1000.
I would be surprised however if there was not something else behind, like an A330neo order to cover their needs for a "regional" widebody... watch this space at Farnborough !
One additional remark in general: all airlines, and especially the overhyped gulf carriers, seems to be placing orders at any new program Airbus or Boeing might launch to reserve slots and cover possible needs... only to cancel later according to their real needs. Talk about an order bubble, it will probably happen !

Emirates are sticking in DXB hence will be cramped, hence nothing smaller than 777-8 will be purchased. Mr Clark is not happy Airbus did not let him specify the performance of the A350-1000 as he wants it min 777-9 sized and with its range and no. of LD3's, as he was allowed by Boeing to influence the 777-9 heavily. Airbus would be smart to let him to specify the A350XWB-1100 for $300M/ea and order min 100 of them as it would become an all composite 777-9 successor.

With the -800 dead and now this cancellation for a number of the -1000's, things are getting a bit dicey for Airbus' A350 other than the -900.
It appears Boeing has the 350 bracketed with the 787 and 777X, leaving only the portion for the -900 for them to compete over directly.
With Clark opting for the 777X, having already ordered and now cancelling the -1000, does this indicate the -1000 is not the 777X killer Airbus thought it was?
Just watch Airbus now do something foolish, ie, re-engine the A380, aka the sinkhole.

I wouldn't read a lot into this. Tim Clark said long ago that the A350-1000 would be a great airplane, if Airbus can actually build it. It has become apparent that today's A350-1000 is a substantially different (and much less desireable) airplane than what was announced years ago. Tim Clark is pretty brutal in dealing with products that don't live up to the promises. Consider what he did with the A340-600 order.

As for the 747-8i. I will be very surprised if EK orders it. The main purpose of the 747-8i from my perspective was to make potential customers think long and hard about buying A380's. It has achieved that goal. A380 sales are stuck in Neutral, and are likely to remain there until and unless Airbus substantially revamps the product. to bring the ASM costs more in line with the 747-8i and the big twins. The A380 is overweight, and the enines are two generations behind. The latter is a more serious problem then the former.

while my suggestion might initially be bad news for Boeing et all... why not offer a package of;
competitive airframes
and
an expansion of the air capacity ground terminals
or a new airport to expand the constriction?
that seems a nice way to package planes and
offer a more useful negotiating approach.

Has everyone forgotten about the 114 cancellation of 787 and since 2003 only 147 787 has been delivery

Boeing has had been no new orders for 777-200, 767, 747-8
Many airlines are not replacing there exist Boeing aircraft, since Boeing CEO James McNerney, and GE CEO Jeff" Immelt are member of the board on the Import-Export Bank, that made better loan to foreign airlines at a lower interest rate
Delta and other Airline Group have file law suits against the U.S. Export-Import Bank over Air India Loan Guaranteeshttp://bloom.bg/19EVNoT-

Air India and Jet air has decided to sell five out of its eight Boeing 777-200 aircraft owing to changes in market dynamics due to the Global recession, steep increase in fuel prices and poor yields on non-stop routes, and the 777-200 being a gas Guzzlerhttp://bit.ly/1fRvz4B

The A350 is in production, in flight test, as flown at the Airshow in 2013 and 2014 and will be delivery in 2015

The 777-X, 787-10 and 737MAx is still on the drawing board and may go into flight test in 2020.

The 777-X with its 259 orders is only need on long haul rout flying over water in and out of Singapore and Australia but it’s still cheaper to land and refuel then buying a buying a fleet of 777-x
Since the rest of the world airport can be reach by existing aircraft

i think airbus made a mistake when it didn't give the middle east carriers what they wanted in the A350 model.and don't forget EMIRATES HELP DEVELOP THE BOEING NEW 777-X AIRCRAFT AND THE DELIVERY DATE FOR THESE TWO MODEL WERE VERY CLOSE SO THEY COMPARE BOTH AIRCRAFT AND EMIRATES WHEN WITH THE LARGEST AND BEST OF BOTH MODEL,WHICH ANY WISE BUSINESSMAN WOULD DO.Airbus just need to get it act together.

To thac396174@aol.com: Please review your figures , talking about B-777-200 gas guzzler, what about the A-340. You name few airlines ordering from Airbus, what about the 60 customers that bought 1031 the B-787-8-9-10 and 66 customers buying 1042 B-777 including the X. By the way most of the customers you name are also buying, B-787 and B-777.
Also Airbus ( I mean Leahy ) did not listen to Emirates for the A-350, because he is so full of himself and thinking that Emirates will buy anything from Airbus.